Episodic saga based on the autobiography of outlaw John Wesley Hardin , Rock Hudson , published after being released from jail in 1896, having served seventeen years of twenty five year sentence. Hardin was an American , Old West outlaw , gunslinger and controversial folk icon .Hardin's life of crime begins with a murder in self-defense that scales into further bloodshed and flights from the law. It deals with the particular relation to his overly religious father , a stiff Pastor splendidly played by John
MacIntire and his love for his step-sister , the attractive Mary Castle .Out of prison Hardin hopes to have his biography edited in order to rehabilitate his tarnished memories . Along the way Hardin falls for a saloon girl , Julie Adams , marries her, and they have a son , with whom he has strong arguments when he fears will follow in his violent footsteps .
Decent Western about a known gunfighter, this Hardin's story is unique because it was written by the man himself. This extraordinary testament , now a collector's ítem , was published in Seguin Texas in 1896. Main cast gives acceptable acting as Rock Hudson , Julie London , Mary Castle and John McIntire in a double role. And prestigious secondaries as Lee Van Cleef , Dennis Weaver, Glenn Strange. The motion picture produced by William Alland was professionally directed by Raoul Walsh a great filmmaker who directed several films , many of them deemed classic movies . He made a lot of Westerns such as The King and 4 queens , The tall men ,Gun fury , Along the great divide, Sílver river, Distant drums,Pursued , Dark command, They died with the boots on , Big traíl and this one .
The picture is partíally based on facts.The real John Wesley (1853-1895) was a sadistic and a ruthless murderer who killed at least 43 people .From an early age , he often got himself into trouble with the law .Pursued by lawmen for most of his life he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder in 1877 , in Huntsville jail . In 1879 Hardin and other convicts were stopped while attempting to steal guns from thr prison armory and he made several attemts to escape . When he was sentenced he reclaimed to have killed 42 men but newspapers of the day attributed only 27 death to him .While in prison Hardin wrote a biased autobiography and studied law. During his prison term he was convict of another manslaughter for the early shooting an inmate and given two year sentence to be served concurrently with his unexpired 25 year sentence . He was released in 1894. In August 1895,Hardin was shot to death by John Selman, himself a notorious gunman and former outlaw.Selman was arrested for murder and stood trial , though he claimed self-defense.
